A NEW route between Cardiff Airport and Qatar has been announced this week.

On Monday (April 24), Qatar Airways Group chief executive, His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker announced the launch of a new frequent service from Cardiff Airport, linking Wales and south west England to Qatar via the capital city Doha in 2018.

The airline has announced Cardiff Airport as the only new planned UK route in its network for 2018.

The service from Cardiff Airport will be the first regular direct long-haul flight linking Wales and south west England to a major global hub in the Gulf region, which the airline hopes will benefit both leisure and business travellers.

Services will fly between Cardiff and Hamad International Airport in Doha, which since opening in 2014 is one of the world’s largest hub airports with more than 30 million passengers using the state-of-the-art facilities each year.

Via the hub, Qatar Airways connects to more than 150 destinations across six continents including key routes to Australia, UAE, Thailand, India, Hong Kong, South Africa and China.

Deb Barber, CEO at Cardiff Airport said: "I am immensely proud that Qatar Airways has chosen Cardiff Airport to operate its new service to Doha.

"It is fantastic that we will now be able to offer our customers more choice of travel with a world-class airline providing easy connections to destinations across the world.

"More than one million passengers per year from our region are travelling to destinations that are on the Qatar Airways network.

"More than 90 per cent of these passengers are currently travelling via London and this new service will give them the opportunity to fly more conveniently from Cardiff, their local airport.

"It has been a long journey to get to this stage, with discussions spanning a number of years.

"Over the coming months we will work with the team at Qatar Airways to confirm the details of the service and look forward to the flights being on sale in the near future."

Roger Lewis, chairman at Cardiff Airport added; "This is a game changing announcement for Cardiff Airport and for Wales.

"The benefits of this relationship will be transformational for both businesses and passengers across the south west of England and for Wales.

"I sincerely thank H.E., Mr. Akbar Al Baker, for the trust he and Qatar Airways are placing in us.

"He is a truly inspirational leader and I am honoured to have worked with him on this project.

"I am confident that the team at Cardiff Airport will deliver a world-class service with Qatar Airways for all of our passengers both visiting Wales and travelling across the world.

"I look forward to returning to Doha in the near future to further develop this special bi-lateral relationship between Wales, the UK and Qatar."